THANK GOD---EVERY TIME?

I  thank 
my God 
every time 
I remember you. 
(Phil. 1: 31)

remembrance.band.com

Let's face it; life would be easy if we didn't have to get along with people.  Work would be easy if we didn't have to encounter others.  Driving would be easy if no one else were on the road.  Family gatherings  would  run smoothly if no one showed up. Teaching would be easy if there were no kids.... You get the easy road?  It is void of people.  But that road doesn't exist, and we are called to walk down the one that is clearly filled with encountering others.  So this scripture today really needs to sink in.

I THANK ....Seems we are called to be thankful for people.  I am thankful for things and situations and jobs and people, but every person?  What response should this thankfulness muster? 

I THANK GOD...Seems God is the creator of those people in our path because we are called to thank Him; Who are the people that are coming to your mind right now that you are thankful for?  Your mom, your husband, your kids, your sister, your pastor.... We are inclined to thank Him for the wonderful people that we are thinking of right now.

But we aren't very happy about some of the people that cause stress in our lives. Are we called to also thank Him for  those that bring joy to our days AND those that create difficulty? Picture your day doing just that.  Thanking God for those people that you remember have caused you pain.   How might my attitude and outlook on life change if I thanked God more often for everyone in my path instead of grumbling inside about those that irritate me. Thanking God for each person reminds me that He gives them value, not me.

I THANK GOD EVERY TIME...Seems it is true that even those that bring the sunshine one day might be those  that  cause muddy puddles on another. Maybe that is why God wants us to be thankful EVERY time, not just on those days when we appreciate these people in our lives.  For sure, our thankfulness might not change them, but how might it change us?  How might who they are to us change?  

We are a repetitive people; we need to do some things over and over and over and over until some of the sentiment sinks down into our soul, until we have created the mental habit of  thanks.  We are never to tire of giving THANKS for one another. 

I THANK GOD EVERY TIME I REMEMBER YOU...Seems being thankful brings others back into our fold even when they might seem far away.   Our thoughts bring them back to us.  We RE- member them.  We bring them back into unity with us:  both spiritually and mentally.  This kind of thankful  expression is one of continuance, an unbroken remembrance of unbroken gratitude, earnestly and unabashedly thankful. 

THE CHALLENGE:  Maybe being thankful for another person EVERY TIME seems  impossibly foreign and daringly impossible.  Are you thinking of the person that you have said "NO WAY--I CANNOT BE THANKFUL FOR THAT ONE." How could this  even look in our lives?  There are no rules set  for when we are to be thankful: we are not thankful only when he speaks nicely or acts correctly or does something sweet for us. No...every time we remember them.  I hear you saying, "Then I am going to try hard to stop remembering them." Good luck with that! 

Maybe this challenge compels us to try to change our perspective about some people in our lives.  Maybe this challenge calls us to be intentional with those God has given to walk beside us. Maybe this challenge will help me understand the real essence of gratitude. 

Go ahead and try the challenge: thank God every time you remember that person.

I  thank 
my God 
every time 
I remember you. 

remembrance-band.com